Senate drags its feet on permanent daylight saving time despite President Trump's pressure campaign
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The Senate is poised to sit on the House bill that would end the twice-yearly clock change and make daylight saving time permanent, even as President Donald Trump presses Republican senators to move it forward. Supporters say the change would add evening daylight, while critics warn it would force darker mornings and put children at risk on their way to school.
Washington – The Senate is expected to delay action on a House-passed bill that would establish permanent daylight saving time, even as President Donald Trump continues to pressure Republican senators to approve the measure.
Supporters of the bill argue that keeping daylight saving time year-round would provide more evening daylight for activities, while opponents contend that it would delay sunrise for commuters in northern states, potentially leaving children to travel to school in darkness.
“No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
Cotton, a GOP leader, has publicly resisted the change, drawing criticism from the president, who posted his personal cellphone number on social media and urged Cotton to “GET IT DONE!”
Other Republican senators from northern states have expressed similar concerns.
“You’d be sending kids to school in the dark,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.
President Trump has reiterated his support for the bill on his social-media platform, claiming that a majority of Americans favor the change and that “criminals don’t like working in the light.”
Despite the president’s advocacy, Senate leaders have not indicated that the bill will be scheduled for a vote before the Senate reconvenes after the November 3 midterm elections.
“No way,” said Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, when asked if the legislation would pass soon.
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., described the House proposal as a “non-starter” for Senate Republican leaders, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has previously voted against similar measures.
Historical attempts to adopt permanent daylight saving time, such as the 1973 energy-crisis experiment, were repealed after public opposition, particularly concerns about early winter sunrises.
Recent polling shows a shift in public opinion, with a majority now favoring the elimination of the twice-yearly clock change. The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine have also voiced support for a single time system.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who signed state legislation in 2018 to allow year-round daylight saving time pending federal approval, said he regularly hears from constituents that the biannual clock change is an “unnecessary, decades-old practice.”
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., echoed the sentiment, noting that the “head-spinning ritual of falling back and springing forward has a very real impact on our economy, our health, and our happiness.”